Anyone else disappointed with their state choices?

[DrTinkle]

It's all so bloody average around here. Schools seem to move from satisfactory to good, grades are average, bullying and low aspiration a problem. High performing kids do less well than they would at independents. No grammar schools in the area and the church school creams off most of the advantaged kids with parents who can commit to 7 years church or synagogue attendance. Everything is so oversubscribed and competitive around here, it's basically overpopulated.
We're utterly stuck living here for work and childcare reasons. I don't want DD who is bright and very capable to have the poor choices I had so faced with paying for 6 years of schooling which won't be easy.
Just a bit sad looking at Facebook friends kids going to grammars or well performing comps and thinking it just ain't fair. Anyone else care to vent?

Yep. But I had my first child at 15, 3rd and last at 19. Not working the best job as you can imagine. Trying hard to study and get ourselves out of this mess I've put us in but it's bloody hard. My sos are happy where they are and and I try my best to make up for the educational shortcomings of the school.

I'm definitely more of a 'glass half full' person if you like, so tend to look on the bright side and think about how lucky they are in so many ways. But there are days it gets me down I must say.

WiryElevator Ignor my last post. I misread yours.

Lurked, no. Ideally I would not like to send my DC to a school like that. But I wouldn't send them to an indie or a grammar either because I feel quite strongly about it. Again it's personal.

FWIW my crappy comp was not all sunshine and roses - we had our fair share of classroom riots and police showing up etc. And some teachers were a bit shit and couldn't control kids. My point was more that I did well despite all this and would still have taken this environment, with its shortcomings, over a private or grammar.

Iamnotloobrushphobic - doesn't qualify for most league tables.

The school did state (more than 5 years ago) that they no longer wanted to feature on league tables as they don't agree with league tables.

Yet I have posted a link to an indie. league table.

Interestingly your school is up with the very top performing indie schools. Hardly representative of independent education sector on the whole is it given that the majority of independent schools don't gain results as good as this.

I'd give my teeth for average to be honest.

Dd goes to a below average comp. 36% of kids get 5 or more gcses. Behaviour is shit, bullying is a problem.

Dd is a bright kid, passed her eleven plus. She's on target for As and Bs but I can't help think she'd be on target for A*s if we'd lived nearer to the grammar.

OP- if you have a high achieving child then check what happens to the high achievers at any school you're looking at. If they don't do well, then it's time to panic. But check first.

mumtryingherbest they don't qualify for most league tables (including some indie ones) because you cannot fully compare Igcses with GCSEs. The local press and the schools own website issue the results each year.
In any case the schools high master issued a statement (I checked and it was actually over 10 years ago) stating that he didn't want the school to feature on league tables as he saw league tables as a cancer on education. His stance was that whether a school was achieving in the top rankings or much lower down the rankings, league tables created competition to appear as being successful which only leads to teachers teaching to test to gain high grades rather than ensuring children are actually properly educated and given a broad knowledge of each subject.
He wasn't the only high master / headteacher at the time to make such a statement. There was quite a few very successful independent schools and some state schools who released similar statements. I'm not sure how many decided not to continue submitting data for league tables though.

Bertrand Granted, it's not a huge socio economic/cultural mix at our grammar. But there is a definite mix, there's no denying it.

Probably as large a socio economic/cultural mix as you'd find at a naice comp in an affluent suburb?

Interestingly your school is up with the very top performing indie schools. Hardly representative of independent education sector on the whole is it given that the majority of independent schools don't gain results as good as this.

Very true. It's the reason my child chose this school over the other 2 indies he was offered places at. He didn't want to be the child who is seen as being clever anymore. He wanted to be amongst other very able children as he had spent years at primary dumbing himself down to try and fit in socially. The state grammar he was offered a place at also has many many very academically able children and that was the second choice. Like I said in my opening post, I'm sure he could achieve in an academic sense at any school but the choice was made more on being amongst a similar ability peer group (and it was my child who made the choice).

Iamnotloobrushphobic they don't qualify for most league tables (including some indie ones) because you cannot fully compare Igcses with GCSEs.

The link I provided was an IGCSE league table of indie schools.

But they still don't subscribe and submit data because as I explained they don't want to be on the league tables because they don't agree with them and think that they are Damaging to all round education. Of course people can look up the stats themselves and see where the school would slot into the league tables because the stats are available on the schools website. Despite not being on the league tables (including the indie ones) there is no doubt that it is an excellent school with an excellent reputation and many children competing for each available place every year.

We moved house for secondary school having paid for Indy throughout primary due to crap choices. We researched schools thoroughly and moved into the priority area for the school we wanted. DD started in year 7 this week. If you feel that strongly about your choices then you have 2 options; pay up or move. DD school got 89% A* to C this summer inc Maths and English. Worth the effort we feel.

Mum trying - I have just checked your earlier link and it does feature on that one (within the top 20) but it doesn't feature on your second link. It is actually the first time I have seen the school feature on a published league table.

And from your first link mumtrying

The Telegraph independent school league table is created using data supplied by the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Many schools boycott the tables, which means that not every school is listed.

Which is what I was trying to explain but not doing a very good job of.

Ds has a friend who just achieved 11A* in a school that was measured as inadequate in the last report and requires improvement in the previous report. It has never done well and we were sure Ds would not attend that school and he didn't.
It has to be said that the girl was well above average and had strong supportive parents, however my reason for saying this is to show that the school is not always the be all and end of the child's achievement.

My ds is at a school with 7% high attainers, but I fully expect him to get As and A*s. I need to be more proactive than I would be if he was at a school with 80% high attainers, but if he was a low attainer in a school with 7% low attainers I would have to be too.

The best way to compare schools is on the numbers making 'expected progress' - easy to compare on the DFE website
This is clear indictor of the quality of teaching to all pupils, which is not possible to tell from the %A-C numbers.

Church goers are richer ?? Really OP?

Think there is some (misguided) stereo - typing going on.

As another poster said you do have choices. You can move, you could go to church, you could home educate. I appreciate that you might not want to do any of those things for convenience / moral / career reasons but you can't say you don't have a choice.

mandy214 - As another poster said you do have choices. You can move, you could go to church, you could home educate.

Interestingly our local mayor said this too, in response to the impending shortfall of places at local schools.

What you appear to have overlooked is that, for some, those points may not be options that they can realistically consider.

If both parents have full time jobs how do you propose they HE? Not every child works at their best at 7pm in the evening and spending the weekend teaching your kids does not really give much in the way of down time. For many low income families, jobs are not undertaken to pursue a career but as a means to financially support their family.

Moving house often incurs costs and your also assuming that everyone can afford to buy a house in the catchment of the schools they most desire or the best performing schools.

With regard to attending church, pretty pointless if the school is oversubscribed (which many faith schools are) and you fall outside the distance cut off (which for many high performing schools is very small, 224 meters for my nearest secondary and 200 meters for a local primary).

I'm not saying I don't have a choice, but it isn't to move area or to home educate as I have to work to pay my mortgage. My choice is to take the local comp or pay. I will choose to pay. Am just peed off that I'm needing to do that.

Church goers in this area are indeed richer as a group, hence the FSM % being 7 x lower than the cohort at the comp. that is a fact whether you want to hear it or not. Some will be playing the system and committing to 7 plus years church attendance to access the middle class church school. I know this as fact because my friend is doing just that and each year witnesses people dropping out as their children are admitted to the school. Even the blooming vicar has commented on it!

mandy214 Church goers are richer ?? Really OP?

This web site might be of interest:

fairadmissions.org.uk/map/

If you click on the schools on the map it highlights how socio-economically inclusive they are. Quite an eye opener in some cases.

Well you don't need to pay. You are choosing to pay.

Which is fine. Your DC your choice. But it's not a need. It's a choice.

Yes it's a choice. And a thread for others feeling similar to vent. It's not AIBU.

Have you looked at what happens to high attainers at your local school?